Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II wears the Royal Diamond Diadem which was worn for the coronation and in keeping with tradition she continues to face to the right of the coin. The most noticeable change is the new effigy shows the Queen's shoulders.

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Mr Clark's design was chosen through a competition in the United Kingdom and has been used on the coins since 2015. The portrait to be used on the Australian coins is an adaption of the United Kingdom's effigy.

The changing face of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Her effigy has evolved six times since she first appeared on currency in 1953. It is the first time in 20 years that Australian coins will have a new portrait of the Queen.

In April this year, the day after the Queen’s 92nd birthday, Sir Peter announced Australia would adopt a new effigy on all circulating and collector coins.

Sir Peter said the new coins marked the rare progression of the Queen's portrait on the Australian coinage.

"This new effigy will be a new image for a new era - continuing to tell the story of a reign and lifetime," Sir Peter said.

Governor-General Sir Peter Cosgrove with the old and new effigy of the Queen. The new portrait, left, was unveiled in Canberra on Monday. Credit:Karleen Minney

"The new coins and effigy are set to become a familiar sight for years to come."

Chief executive of the Royal Australian Mint Ross MacDiarmid said the transition to the new effigy on all Australian coinage would begin in 2019 and continue into 2020. He said coins carrying the previous portraits of the Queen would remain in circulation.

"The new effigy is very much similar to the original image that's been there since 1998," Mr MacDiarmid said.

"Now we've got the shoulders and the coronation necklace as part of the image, it's not necessarily contemporising the face, but contemporising the image.

"If you look back it's been about that period of time when there's been a change and we thought we wanted to contemporise in some way and give those collectors a reason to want to collect things."

There will be 5000 "proof coins" and 30,000 uncirculated coins and the commemorative currency will be available from the Royal Mint's online shop from $15.

The very first effigy used on Australian coinage was designed by Mary Gillick, an artist who beat 16 others in a heated competition run by the Royal Mint Advisory Committee.